


just a civilian

by maketea



Series: kiss me on the mouth and set me free [4]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste Knows, Comfort, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-30
Updated: 2020-06-30
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:34:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24990862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maketea/pseuds/maketea
Summary: marinette seems to be having issues with her superhero partner.unbeknowest to her, her boyfriendisher superhero partner, and this is the first he's ever heard of any issues.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Series: kiss me on the mouth and set me free [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1556365
Comments: 19
Kudos: 304





	just a civilian

**Author's Note:**

> [ _50 types of kisses: prompt 41 - kisses shared under an umbrella_ ](https://kashimalin-fanfiction.tumblr.com/post/178524845380/50-types-of-kisses-writing-prompts)  
> this was requested by 2 anons on tumblr!  
> pls comment / send me an [_ask on tumblr_](https://rosekasa.tumblr.com/ask) with a request from [_this prompt list_](https://kashimalin-fanfiction.tumblr.com/post/178524845380/50-types-of-kisses-writing-prompts)

"Pound… it?"

Ladybug looked to her side, but Chat Noir was gone. A few yards away, baton to the wet pavement, eyes scanning the rooftops for an exit.

Her lips thinned. "Leaving so soon?"

Sheepishly, he held up a hand. "Sorry. About to transform back."

Speckled with rainwater, three pads flashed on his ring.

She bit the inside of her cheek. Confronting him in front of a swelling hoard of press and cameras would give him  _ many _ more reasons to run away from her — not that he hadn't been, already.

"Well, see you soon?" she said instead, and dropped her fist. 

He nodded shortly, wiped the rain off his palm, and hauled himself onto a rooftop behind her.

Sighing, she approached the victim on the ground.

It had been a while since she last helped up a civilian with Chat Noir.

Last week he had an appointment (at the groomer's, he joked, and she actually laughed), three days ago he had to meet with someone (a special  _ lady _ , he said, and she congratulated him), and today his transformation was running out.

The press and the cameras and her mercy were all that saved him from a tongue-lashing. 

She proffered both hands to the woman, and she took them gratefully. "No Chat Noir?" she asked. 

"Sorry, ma'am. He had something important to get to."

"What a shame," she said, rummaging through her bag and picking out an umbrella. "You both are a fantastic team."

Ladybug gave her a small smile.

A sea of dark umbrellas approached her, the cameras getting bolder, the microphones stuck in her face. She autographed a few notebooks (a napkin from Costa for one girl), and answered any questions she could. She shifted her weight from one foot to another — without Chat Noir, she was always a little stiff on camera.

"Miss Ladybug."

Her head snapped around.

Adrien pushed back the end of his black umbrella to peer up at her, and smiled. He was wearing the raincoat he had been carrying on their date, balanced a plastic-wrapped muffin on top of a cardboard cup, and had her (though only she and he knew it was hers) dark blue mackintosh slung over his arm.

"Miss Ladybug," he said again in a cloying voice. "Aren't you cold?"

Adrien took her stiffness and disposed of it.

Ladybug did her best not to relax into that smile she always saved for him (Alya had told her it was that smile that gave away their relationship before Marinette's babbling did) and instead offered her superheroine face instead.

"Just a little," she said, and shrugged, trying not to eye the mackintosh nor the cardboard cup.

He held it up with nothing more than a smile. 

Ladybug took it, and sipped at her perfect hot chocolate: whipped cream, two sugars. Adrien really did know her best.

"Thank you, uh…?"

He raised his eyebrows incredulously. She giggled. Magazines would be swooning at their bashful superheroine by tomorrow morning.

"Adrien," he said.

They shared a smile.

She had only gotten a few sips of her hot chocolate in between talking to the press, so it must’ve been her Ladybug luck that, as she ducked through the rain and into the alleyway she promised to meet Adrien in, it was still warm.

He straightened from his recline against the bricks when he saw her, umbrella out, her mackintosh still slung over his arm. She threw herself into his arms. He took her weight with a quiet  _ oof _ .

"I'm so happy to see you," she said earnestly, and rubbed her wet cheek against his collar. "It was such a long battle."

Adrien pressed his nose lovingly against her hair. "You must be freezing."

Shivering, she pulled herself back and pressed a kiss to his mouth.

“Spots off,” she said, and immediately, Adrien held the umbrella over her. His own hair began to mat to his forehead.

Adrien gave her the muffin, and she split it with Tikki, who fell in a tired pile on her wet hair. Marinette was still eating when Adrien helped her into the raincoat; carefully, she scooped Tikki out of the rain, and nestled her into her purse. They walked out of the alleyway after Adrien had Marinette’s hand securely in his.

"You okay?" he asked after they got to the high street.

Marinette blinked, and a few raindrops splashed onto her cheeks. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

The answer appeared to suffice, because Adrien pressed no more.

They continued down the high street, thankful for their splayed walking umbrella after passing so many Parisians with newspapers folded over their heads, with watery glasses, with hoodies pulled up and soaked through, cheeks flushed and moist with raindrops, teenage girls walking with teenage boys in short-sleeved shirts because he insisted to wrap her up in his coat.

Marinette glanced up at Adrien’s hair — dark, damp, and sticking up in a little flick at the top.

She leaned over, and kissed his cheek.

“What was that for?” he asked.

“Nothing. Just thinking about how much I love you.”

“Someone’s feeling romantic today.” He tried nuzzling her nose, but decided against it when she stumbled over a puddle.

“I told you I was happy to see you.”

This time he did kiss her — on the lips, just like he had wanted in the first place.

But it was him who pulled back first. “You know… you can tell me if something’s bothering you. Even if it’s superhero stuff. I’m a good listener.”

They ducked under a tree’s extended arm. Marinette’s head skimmed the top, and a few water droplets ran down her fringe. “I know, Adrien. Thank you.” She popped the last bit of muffin into her mouth, then used the sleeve of her mackintosh to wipe her forehead. “I think Chat Noir’s mad at me.”

A stagger interrupted his amble. Adrien snapped his head around. "You—  _ what?" _

"I know, I'm— I'm probably being stupid." She turned her face to look at the steely road, jam-packed with cars and their wet headlights. "He's just… he's been avoiding me. And I don't know why. And— and it's just… it's hitting me really hard. He's my best friend, and… and with all these new responsibilities… I was hoping he'd be there for me… but he's not."

Adrien said nothing for what felt like a long portion of their walk. The silence reminded her all too much of the kinds that stuck itself between her and Chat Noir these days. Their patrols no longer bursted with the same conversation as they used to. She even missed berating him for talking too much about his civilian day; now, he'll tell her nothing at all.

The discomfort she had been feeling deep in her chest as Ladybug made a reappearance, but this time, its bearer was her boyfriend.

Despite passing three bins, Marinette kept fiddling with her empty muffin wrapper. "Are… are you mad at me, too?"

And that must have shocked him even more, because Adrien stopped walking all together.

"No!" He grabbed onto Marinette's hand, keeping her under the umbrella. "No, oh gosh, I was just— here, let's sit down."

He directed her to under the canopy of a bus stand, and, taking a seat on the bench, pulled her down, too. He didn't let go of her wet fingers.

"I was just…" He struggled for a moment. "Shocked, I guess? I had no idea— I mean, it always looked like you guys made the perfect team."

"We do!" she hastened to say. "We are! He's wonderful — that'll never change. I just…" She sighed. "Okay… I'm worried that I hurt him."

"H-hurt him?"

Marinette nodded. She wanted to look him in the eye while she spoke — she made it a point to do that, usually, as a testament to how far she had come from her fumbling, lovestruck days — but guilt was a heavy mass in her stomach that kept her gaze to the fringe of mud on her ballerina flats.

This wasn't something she was planning to ever tell Adrien. 

"He, uh…" She folded the muffin wrapper twice. "He's in love with me."

"And?" 

Marinette's head shot up.

The nonchalance disappeared from Adrien's tone. "I-I mean, uh, it was a little obvious, don't you think?"

"Really?" She flushed. "I had no idea until he told me."

Marinette thought to all the times she had froze whenever Adrien expressed his curiosity about her relationship with Chat Noir. All her nervous laughter, all the times she had skirted around stories of his flirting and his confessions, all so she wouldn't risk putting Adrien's feelings on the line. This was her very first boyfriend, and although there was no manual for  _ What to do if your superhero partner is in love with you but you have a boyfriend now, _ Marinette had been pretty sure  _ not _ bringing it up with your boyfriend unless necessary would probably be a key tip.

Now, knowing that he knew this whole time? That it didn't bother him? That he trusted her that much?

Marinette needed a new manual. Well, if she had been reading a manual at all.

"Uh, about you hurting him…"

Marinette shook herself out of her reverie. "Right, right, sorry." She played with his fingers. "He's been avoiding me since… since I told him about us."

"Oh."

"A-and, I guess I could've _not_ told him about us? But at the same time… that… that's not fair — on us _or_ him. I… I didn't want to lead him on, but… now I'm worried that I've just pushed him away. And I can't afford to do that, right now." Marinette pulled her sleeves over her palms. "I… I can't afford to be alone."

Adrien let out a deep breath. " _ Oh _ ."

Something had changed in his expression, but Marinette couldn't quite put a finger on it.  _ Reflective _ , was the word she was looking for, but couldn't for the life of her understand why he would be  _ reflective,  _ of all things.

He muttered something under his breath.

She perked up. "Did you just call him stupid?"

"What— uh, no! I— I called myself stupid, because…. uh…" Adrien scratched the back of his head. "...because I should've asked you about it from the beginning. I should've been there for you."

"Adrien…" She gave him a soft look. "Don't be so hard on yourself. It isn't your fault."

His shoulders deflated. "Thank you for saying that, but… it really feels like it is."

They sat under the bus stand quietly, their umbrella still up.

Then, Adrien leaned over, and kissed her head. "Promise me something?"

"Sure."

"Promise you'll talk to him about this."

Marinette pushed back her hood to search for his gaze.

Why would her partnership with Chat Noir be so important to him?

She supposed it was important to everyone — it was their partnership that saved Paris everyday, after all. Perhaps this was normal. 

Or… perhaps…

She put a lid on that thought before it even began. She couldn't do that, couldn't muddle the two together. That itself would open a can of relationship worms, and then a can of partnership worms, then another can, and another can…

Marinette decided it would be better for her state of mind to listen to the rainfall rather than her own brain.

"Okay," she said softly. "I promise."

"And one more thing," Adrien said.

She watched him expectantly.

"Promise me you'll tell me if… if anything like this happens again. If— if Chat Noir upsets you, or something."

She cracked a smile. "Why? So you can beat him up for me?"

Adrien chuckled. "Of course. You think he's any match for me?"

He flexed his bicep — invisible under the droopy sleeves of his coat.

Marinette laughed, which made him laugh in turn.

"But seriously," he said, "please tell me. You're not alone. I'm  _ always _ here for you."

He held her gaze long enough to thicken the air between them. His sentence almost seemed unfinished. Marinette strained her ears to see if she could hear his unspoken words over all the raindrops.

"I-I mean, I know I'm just a civilian, but…" He scratched the back of his head. "I'll still be there for you. I'm your boyfriend. Don't you forget that."

Playfully, he flicked her nose. Marinette scrunched it up.

"Alright," she said, and began to stand. "I promise."

The tension in his face released. Adrien smiled, brought his head down, and kissed her. "Good. Shall we?"

He made a sweeping, gentlemanly gesture towards the rest of the pavement, holding the umbrella out for her to walk under.

Marinette looked at him long and hard.

Then, she smiled back at him, and nodded. "We shall."

**Author's Note:**

> tumblr: rosekasa


End file.
